


The Quest For the Missing Tesseract

by Arvari



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Jötunn Loki, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki Needs a Hug, M/M, Nicknames, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 02:11:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8559304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arvari/pseuds/Arvari
Summary: A few months after the Civil War, Thor shows up in Tony's living room with Loki in tow (and wasn't that guy supposed to be dead or something?), news that the Tesseract was stolen (and maybe it even wasn't Loki's fault) and a plea for Tony's help in retrieving it. And that is the story of how Tony Stark (aka Anthony) and Loki Laufeyson (aka Lo, Ruby eyes or Bluebird) ended up on an undercover mission in Jotunheim, trying to find a stupid glowing cube neither of them really wants. And if Loki doesn't kill someone before the week is out, it will be a miracle...





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for this year's FrostIron Bang. It was supposed to be a bit shorter, but then it got out of hand, as usual. No surprises there, right? And for some reason, it STILL feels too short. Oh, well. I wanted to focus on Loki's frost giant form and Tony's post-Civil War mental health, so... Here you go, I guess. :)
> 
> The amazing art for the story was made by rosaeldi (thank you again!) and you can find it here: <http://rosaeldi.tumblr.com/post/153189074219>

“Uhm... Tony?”

“Kinda busy here, Rhodes,” the inventor replied, the whole upper half of his body hidden under the 1967 Shelby Cobra he bought only the day before to replace the one he'd managed to destroy years ago during the initial test of his repulsors.

“I think it's urgent,” said Rhodey.

“Yeah, and what isn't?” said Tony and Rhodey could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Tony...”

There was a loud and dramatic sigh.

“Right. What is it?”

“You remember Loki, right?”

“Black hair, kinda asshole, wanted to rule the world, would probably be fun to hang with if he wasn't totally crazy and, you know, dead?”

“Yeah, about that,” said Rhodey and pushed himself onto the nearest worktable. He still couldn't get used to the exoskeleton he needed to walk and stand. “He's kind of... not dead. And also kind of standing in the middle of our living room with Thor by his side and demanding to speak with you immediately.”

It only took Tony a few seconds to slide from under the car and stand up, disbelief written all over his face.

“Say that again,” he demanded.

“Loki. Alive. Living room. With Thor. Talk. Now.”

Tony blinked and reached for a towel to wipe his hands into.

“Oh, shit. Oh, _shit_ ,” he murmured. “I have a bad feeling about this. Friday? Please, make sure there's at least one suit ready for me. Thanks.”

“You think he would try something?” asked Rhodey, arching his eyebrows. “Thor's with him and-”

“One word, Rhodes. New York,” said Tony, already heading out of the workshop.

“That's two words, Stark.”

“I don't care!” Tony shouted from the hall. “Not when I felt a disturbance in the Force!”

Rhodey rolled his eyes, lowered himself from the table and slowly followed Tony.

 

Next to the living room door, Tony paused for a moment, took a deep breath and only then did he walk inside.

“Oh, nice. I see the reports of your death are greatly exaggerated, asshole,” he smirked in Loki's general direction. “Thor. Hey, buddy. Nice to see you again. What's the matter? I mean, except for the fact your bro's still alive and kicking.”

“I've changed my mind, Thor,” said Loki. “I will not need him for my plan.”

“Shut up,” Thor growled. “Stark. We have come to you because we need your help.”

“And I seriously need an explanation,” Tony replied, walking to the bar. “Drink, anyone?”

“I would like one. Since I never got the one I asked for after your beast had broken almost every bone in my body...” Loki smiled.

“Yeah. Whatever,” said Tony. “Thor. Explain.”

“I have only recently found out-”

“Recently means about two days ago,” said Loki.

“-that after faking his death-”

“I told you I wasn't faking anything, have you managed to damage your hearing during your time on Midgard?!”

“-Loki took my father's place on the throne of Asgard, pretending to be Odin, of course.”

“Yes, and it only took _him_ about a year to find out. I mean, I always knew Thor wasn't exactly bright, but this was a bit extreme even for him.”

“I told you to shut up, didn't I?” Thor sighed.

“I just want to make sure that Man of Iron hears the whole story,” Loki smiled brightly, just as Tony pushed a glass of scotch into his hand. The inventor noticed there were golden bracelets with runes all over them on both Loki's wrists.

“When I found out, we fought-” Thor tried to continue.

“You charged at me like a bilgesnipe, waving your hammer and yelling something completely unintelligible,” said Loki.

“Regretting you didn't bring the muzzle for him, eh?” asked Tony when he saw Thor grit his teeth.

“If you are so clever, brother, would you like to finish the explanation?” said the blond god.

“Of course,” Loki nodded. “As I was saying the oaf here charged at me with that hammer of his, bent on killing me.”

“That's not-”

“Shhh, Thor. The intelligent ones are talking. Of course, I defended myself. And while we were fighting, I felt something disturb the wards I had placed on the treasure room. I tried to tell the idiot, of course, but he thought it was only a trick. Well, after _he_ managed to break most of the bones in my body and threw me into the prison cell, he decided to check the treasure room after all. And guess what he didn't find there?”

“Loki...” Thor sighed.

“The Tesseract,” Loki nodded.

“What?” Tony gasped. “You lost the Tesseract?!”

“ _He_ lost the Tesseract,” said Loki, pointing an accusing finger at Thor. “I spent years trying to keep it safe.”

“ _You_?” Tony blinked. “What, planning on opening another cute little portal for ugly aliens?”

“Planning on not letting the ugly aliens get their hands on it and open another cute little portal, Stark,” Loki replied.

“Fine. Let's say I believe you,” Tony shrugged. “But why are you here? You said you need my help, but... How could I help you? And why should I?”

“I have a plan that requires the assistance of one of the Avengers. And since you are the only one of the original ones, uhm... available, and since if I have to do this, I at least want to do it with someone who isn't as dull as a brick, it has to be you. As for why should you help us...” Loki looked straight into Tony's eyes, making the inventor flinch.“You saw them, I know. The _ugly aliens_. You can't believe all of them are gone. Some of them survived. And they will come back. They will come for the Tesseract. And then they will come here. If you want to stop them... You need to help me.”

Tony bit his lower lip and lowered his gaze to the floor. How did Loki know which one of his nightmares to use against him?

“Also,” the god continued, quietly. “Your Avengers are gone. Your girlfriend left you. Captain America hates you. Your best friend is crippled because of you-”

“Loki,” said Thor. “Enough.”

“You have nothing to lose, Stark. Nothing,” said Loki.

Tony downed his drink and looked to his left where Rhodey was sitting in the armchair. Tony had no idea when the man came into the room, he just knew Rhodey was watching him with resignation in his eyes, he knew Rhodey _knew_...

“Right,” the inventor nodded. “So what's the plan?”

“Get your suit,” said Loki. “I will explain everything when we get to Asgard.”

“When... _What_?!”

“Actually, you are going to Jotunheim,” said Thor. “According to Loki, the frost giants were the ones who stole the Cube. Asgard is only your first stop.”

“Excuse me,” Tony frowned. “ _You_ as in...”

“You and I, Anthony Stark,” Loki grinned. “Sorry.”

“Oh, someone please kill me,” Tony muttered.

“Don't worry. I am sure that if anything goes wrong, the frost giants will be more than happy to make _that_ wish come true. Although probably not as fast as you would like...”

 

And so it happened that Tony Stark was standing in a small port, watching Thor taking the bracelets off Loki's wrists, which for some reason seemed like a bad idea. Loki was dressed in much plainer clothes than was usual for him, black leather pants and boots and a green linen shirt. His signature colors, yes, but not a trace of gold. It looked weird to Tony.

“All right. Does anyone here think _now_ is time to share the wonderful plan?” the inventor asked as Loki stretched his hand and made a few green sparks dance around his fingertips.

“Of course,” he nodded. “You will bring me to Jotunheim, we will claim that you are one of Thor's Midgardian friends-”

“Which I am.”

“Which you are,” Loki smirked. “We will say that you saved me from Asgard and brought me home. Well, _I_ will say it. They wouldn't listen to you.”

“Oh, yes? And why should they listen to _you_?” asked Tony. “And how the hell do you want to make them accept you-”

“Loki,” Thor gasped. “You mean to...”

“Perhaps you are a bit clever, brother,” said Loki. “Yes. That is my plan. How do Misgardians say it, Anthony? I am going to show them my true colors.”

“What?” Tony blinked. “You're gonna tell them you've come for the Tesseract?”

“I'm afraid I was being literal,” Loki murmured, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. A moment later, his face started to turn blue, strange lines raising from his skin, and when the change was complete and Loki opened his eyes, they were the color of rubies. Or perhaps blood. Tony preferred rubies. No, wait, they were the color of the Iron Man suit. That's right.

The inventor looked at Thor, who was staring at his brother in disbelief, and back at Loki.

“Great. You're blue,” he commented. “I'm sure that will help.”

“Loki...” Thor whispered.

“Let me guess, brother. You didn't believe it until now,” Loki laughed. “That is truly sad...”

“Loki.”

The dark-haired god shook his head.

“Stark, get in your stupid suit. We need to leave now.”

“Leave?” said Tony as his armor assembled itself on his body. “But shouldn't we get to the Bifrost first?”

“Don't be an idiot. We cannot use the Bifrost. They would never believe my story if we did. We have to take one of the secret paths. And to do that, we need a boat.”

“A boat,” Tony repeated. “But-”

“Do you trust me, Stark?”

“I most definitely don't.”

“Clever,” Loki nodded. “We will take that one.”

Hardly a minute later they were sitting in a tiny boat and Tony thought Thor lied about not being able to go because he had to take care of Asgard. There was just no room for him left in the tiny vessel.

“Loki,” the blond said. “Before you go, I only want you to know that I don't despise you for what-”

“Good for you. I want you to know that _I_ despise _you_ ,” Loki replied.

The next moment, the boat started moving by itself. Well, seemingly by itself.

“Magic, right?” said Tony. “Cool. By the way, I'm sure you don't really despise Thor.”

“Shut up or I am going to decide that my plan does not require your assistance after all,” Loki threatened.

“And then what? Just for your information, I can swim and the armor definitely can't be damaged by water.”

Loki rolled his eyes and didn't bother to reply.

Several minutes later, the boat just stopped. There was nothing special about the place where it happened. It was just water, water, water... And the outline of the palace in the distance, much farther than it was supposed to be considering the time it took them to get here.

But Loki looked around and nodded.

“What?” Tony frowned. “This is how we get to Jotunheim? This is your secret path? It doesn't seem like a path to me!”

“That's because this is one of those that need a little magic to activate. Only a little push... You might want to put on your helmet by the way.”

Loki lifted his hand.

“Oh, great. I just hope you can provide that little... _Holy shit, what the hell is this_?!”

The water was quickly parting beneath their boat, which immediately started to descend, no, it started to _fall_ through the vertical tunnel the water created, and then the lights in all the colors of the rainbow started to flash around them and Loki was laughing and then...

 

Then the boat landed in a snowdrift with nothing but a soft _thud!_ and Tony's swearing in eight different languages.

Loki patiently waited for Tony's rant to be over, with his grin getting wider with every other word.

“Are you finished?” he asked when silence finally fell.

“You fucking moron,” Tony growled. “You could have at least warned me!”

“And where would be the fun in that?” Loki shrugged. “All right. Get out of the boat. We need to get to the city before sunset. I don't want to spend the night stuck in some cave, if we are lucky to find one.”

“And how are we planning on doing that?” asked Tony.

“By walking, of course.”

“ _Walking_? Yeah, great. We couldn't have stolen a spaceship, right?”

“No. Because stealing an unimportant boat belonging to some random fisherman from an unguarded harbor is one thing. Stealing a spaceship from a guarded hangar? Much harder. And how would a Midgardian and a Jotun know to fly it anyway?”

“Excuse me, genius here?” said Tony. “And just so you know, according to the readings of my suit, the temperature is way below freezing. How can you be so... unaffected?”

Loki eyed him suspiciously, as if he was trying to decide whether the inventor is serious or not. Considering the fact that Tony was wearing his suit, helmet and faceplate included, this seemed a little pointless.

“Oh, of course,” the god then said, turned around and started walking away.

“Of course what? Hey!” Tony yelled, following him as quickly as possible, which was pretty hard in the suit.

“He didn't tell you. You probably think this... disgusting skin is an illusion.”

“Well, first, there's nothing disgusting about it. Second... You mean it's not?”

“It is not,” Loki shook his head. “I am adopted, _that much_ you know. What you don't know is that I am not of Asgard. I am... I was born here. I am a frost giant.”

“Oh. Wow,” Tony blinked behind his faceplate. “Right. That explains a _lot_.”

“Indeed. For example why am I such a ruthless monster.”

“More like why your body temperature was so low back on the Helicarrier. Holy shit, I spent _days_ trying to figure out what was wrong with the readings, I ended up blaming the sensors, but it was just your _normal_ temperature!”

“I am glad that you find it amusing, Stark.”

“Oh, come on, don't be like that. It's not a tragedy. You're just... Shit!”

Loki turned around just as Tony fell face first to the snow, once again swearing like a sailor.

“And what do you think you are doing?” asked Loki.

“Do you know how hard is it to walk in this fucking thing?!” Tony growled. “It's made for flying and fighting, not walking around. Especially in snow. Hey. Wait a minute. It's made for flying!”

“Uhm, yes?” Loki frowned. “But is it able to fly in this temperature?”

“Excuse me, who do you think made it? Yes, there _were_ some problems with ice before, but I solved them like... years ago.”

“So why exactly are we not flying, Anthony?”

“Because... I'm an idiot? And don't call me Anthony, I'm Tony. And hold still.”

“What exactly do you think you are doing?” Loki frowned when Tony wrapped his left arm around the god's waist.

The next moment Tony activated his repulsors and they took off. It was a bit harder to handle the armor with only one hand, but it was nothing Tony couldn't cope with. And Loki's undignified yelp when Tony suddenly dived down in the air (entirely on purpose) was worth all the trouble.

“So tell me, my gentle ray of frozen sunshine,” said Tony. “Which way?”

 

In the end, the journey to the city took them less than half an hour. Although it didn't look exactly like a city to Tony. There were some crude buildings made of stone, a few of them really _big_ , but they looked like their creators couldn't be bothered to make them look even remotely nice.

Just as he was about to comment on it, he caught a movement, just in the corner of his eye.

Seconds later, they were surrounded by a group of warriors (Tony knew a warrior when he saw one), bald, with skin as blue as Loki's was now, but much more muscular than the god and much, much, _much_ taller.

“Right,” Tony gulped. “Frost g _iants_. Makes sense...”

 

They were brought before a man who was just as blue, muscular and tall as the rest of them. Shit, Tony wouldn't be able to tell him apart from them if you held him at gunpoint, but clearly, he was someone pretty important, as he was sitting on a throne placed on a platform above everyone else.

“Kneel before the king,” one of the blue giants said and Tony sighed inwardly. Loki and kneeling, that would never-

And then Loki just fell on his knees, his head bowed down. Tony rolled his eyes, glad to have his face hidden behind the faceplate, and knelt down as fast as his armor would allow him.

“Well, well... What do we have here?” said the king and Tony mentally cringed. This was like a beginning of a typical villain speech. Come on, do those guys have no style?

“My king,” said Loki, his voice low, scared, close to cracking.

_Nice, Bluebird_ , Tony thought, because he knew for sure that it was only an act from Loki's side.

“I do not know you, do I?” asked the king.

Loki shook his head.

“I was taken to Asgard as a child, when the old one-eyed bastard attacked this realm. I was a slave in the royal palace as far as I can remember. But today, after a thousand years, I was saved by... this man. The Man of Iron, Tony Stark of Midgard, one of the Thunderer's friends. My king... I have nowhere to go.” Loki sniffed and looked up sheepishly to meet the king's eyes. “I cannot remember this realm, I know nothing about it save for what _they_ told me, but it _is_ my home. I seek your permission to stay here and try to live as one of your people, the way I was supposed to live.”

Tony had to resist the urge to applaud Loki's speech. He wondered how much of it was improvised and how much had Loki already prepared in advance.

“But tell me, little runt,” said the king and from the corner of his eye, Tony was able to see Loki's left hand momentarily clenching into a fist before the god forced himself to relax again. “How did you get here?”

“Through a secret path,” Loki whispered, as if it was, well... a secret.

“And how did you find it, being a mere slave? And how did you open it?”

Loki shrugged.

“The younger Odinson,” he said. “I... persuaded him to tell me about the secret paths once. And I do possess some magic, so when I found it... My instinct told me what to do.”

The king nodded.

“Come to me, little runt.”

Loki hesitated (and Tony was sure _that_ wasn't an act), but in the end he rose to his feet and walked to the stairs leading to the throne.

“I said _to me_ ,” the king growled.

Loki bowed his head and obeyed. Soon he was standing before the king, who took Loki's chin in his hand and none too gently forced the god to look up.

He muttered something too quiet for Tony to hear. And clearly for Loki, too, because...

“Pardon me, my king?” the god asked.

“Nothing,” the king replied. “What is your name, little one? What did the Asgardian monsters call you?”

“Loptr,” said Loki. “They called me Loptr.”

“Loptr,” the king nodded. “You may leave now. You will be given a room in the palace until you are able to take care of yourself. You will be taught our customs and everything they robbed you of when you were taken.”

“My king is too kind, but...” Loki turned his head and looked at Tony, concern written all over his face. “The Midgardian. He cannot return to Asgard and he cannot return home, either. He helped me escape. Odinson will be after his blood.”

It was as if the king noticed Tony properly for the very first time. He frowned and gave the inventor a long, thoughtful gaze.

“He may also stay. For now,” the king finally said. “But he mustn't wear his armor.”

“Uhm, _Majesty_ ,” said Tony. “No offense, but I'm afraid that if I take it off, I'll kinda freeze to death in under a minute.”

He saw Loki close his eyes and take a deep breath.

“My king,” the god said. “Please excuse the stupidity of-”

“Silence, runt. We, of course, have a potion for your friend, a potion that will protect his body from the cold. We do sometimes have to keep the visitors from other realms survive. Or slaves.”

He gestured for one of the giants.

“Take the runt and the Midgardian to one of the empty rooms. Fetch a healer to give the Midgardian the potion, then make sure you take away the armor. I want to take a look at this... savior.”

And with that, it seemed that the audience ended.

 

The room they were given was small, but at least it was inside. Shit, it wasn't only inside, it was below the ground, which is about as much _inside_ as you can get. It seemed that was the reason why there seemed to be so few buildings in Jotunheim – it was all hidden below.

Even Loki seemed to be surprised by the fact. Tony was sort of glad for that. He hated when the god acted like he knew everything. Come on. That was Tony's job.

It was also warmer indoors. Still pretty cold for Tony to endure without a jacket (which he, of course, didn't have), at least for longer periods of time, but at least he knew he wouldn't freeze to death the moment he left the safety of his armor.

The moment the door closed behind the guard who escorted them, Loki grabbed Tony by the throat (making Tony once again glad for the armor) and growled.

“What was that supposed to mean, you half-wit?! What did you think, mouthing off to a king? Do you wish to fail, or do you simply wish to _die_? If it is the latter, please do tell me, because I am certainly not planning on dying here with you!”

“Hey. _Hey_ ,” said Tony, sounding a little offended. “You definitely underestimate the special Stark charm. Trust me. Mouthing off was perfectly safe. I made myself interesting for the king and-”

“You don't want to be interesting, you moron. You want to be as invisible as possible,” Loki hissed.

“Yeah, don't wanna piss on your fireworks, Bluebird, but as a Midgardian, and not exactly tall even by _our_ standards, I'm sort of gonna stick out like a sore thumb here, no matter what I do.”

Loki sighed, let go of the inventor and turned his back on him. Tony was kind of glad for that. He found Loki's red eyes a bit unnerving, if he was honest with himself.

“It was a mistake,” Loki whispered. “He knows. Norns, he _knows_.”

“What? What we're here for?” asked Tony.

“No. Who I am. I mean... Whose son I am. He recognized the markings, I... I think. That's why he wanted to see me up close. He wanted to make sure... Oh, I am such an _idiot_!”

Tony sighed and decided to take off his helmet. _He_ felt like an idiot, talking to Loki while hidden beneath the mask.

“And... Whose son exactly are you?” he dared to ask.

“Not your business, mortal.”

“If it could kill me, it sort of _is_ my business. And don't call me a mortal.”

“Very well. Anthony.”

“And don't call me Anthony, for fuck's sake!”

Loki smirked. Well, at least he was amused now, not mad and ready to snap Tony's neck.

“And what did _you_ call me a moment ago? Bluebird?”

“Well, you are... blue,” Tony shrugged. “I can call you blueberry, if you'd like. Or a smurf. A Draenei. Yeah. Nice. Ever played World of Warcraft? I wonder what color your blood is. I mean, what color you are when you _blush_? Purple or just deeper blue?”

“I don't _blush_ , Stark,” Loki hissed. “And for the sake of all the realms, what are you even talking about? Barton told me before the invasion that you were mentally unstable, but he forgot to mention just how _much_!”

“Oh, no, it's not that,” said Tony. “I just got much more mentally unstable _after_ New York. You know, PTSD, nightmares, anxiety... But don't worry, it's not _only_ your fault I'm half-crazy now.”

“The witch,” Loki nodded. “And the soldier.”

“Which one?” Tony smirked. “And just how do you know, blueberry? Were you _stalking me_? Romantic. And kind of creepy.”

“I merely needed to know what was happening in your realm. Just in case.”

“Hm... But yeah. Mental manipulation, Ultron and... that thing with Cap... That didn't exactly help to make me feel better about myself.”

“I have made a mistake,” Loki muttered. “I shouldn't have asked you to come here with me.”

“Because you don't wanna make me even _more_ mentally unstable, or just because you're worried I'm gonna screw up your plan? If I understand it correctly, I am only supposed to keep my mouth shut and pretend I don't exist.”

“Oh, so you can see the catch?”

Tony rolled his eyes dramatically.

Just as he was about to answer, a knock on the door shut him up.

 

“Oh, fuck, this was disgusting,” Tony muttered the moment the healer and the guard left the room, unfortunately taking the Iron Man suit with them. It didn't matter, of course. Tony could call it back if he needed it. Not that they knew. And oh, how glad he was that he was wearing normal jeans and T-shirt and not his usual undersuit... “Why are all potions and healthy things so disgusting?”

“Not all, I assure you,” said Loki. “Are you already feeling the effects?”

“Well, if you mean a need to throw up-”

“Anthony.”

“No, not Anthony again,” Tony whined. “Okay, yeah, maybe... Maybe yes. Maybe it's not so cold anymore. Okay?”

“If you ever feel its effect wearing off, you must tell me immediately,” Loki frowned. “No matter how annoying you are, I still promised Thor I would bring you back, _unharmed_. And I believe that he wouldn't see _frozen to death_ as unharmed.”

“Oh, and here I thought you cared about me. You're hurting my feelings, Loki.”

“Loptr.”

“What?”

“That's the name I told the king, remember?”

“Yeah, but the king isn't here,” Tony shrugged.

“You should practice. If you called me Loki in front of one of _them_... I would never explain that. You see, they know who Loki of Asgard is. Clearly not what he _looks_ like, as most of them probably only ever saw me by Thor's side and that made me almost invisible to them. But I do not want to die only because your mouth works faster than your brain. So try it out. _Loptr_.”

“Lo... Lop... Holy shit, look, why don't I just call you _Lo_? Much easier. And if you can call me Anthony all the time, I can call you Lo.”

“Loptr.”

“ _Lo_.”

“You must have a death wish, Stark.”

There was another knock on the door and only a moment later, a guard (probably not the same one as before) stepped inside the room.

“The king would speak with you now. In private,” he announced.

“By _you_ , you mean...” Tony hesitated.

“The runt and his savior.”

Tony could see the muscles in Loki's jaw tighten. Oh, yes, he saw this on the security footage from the moment Loki came to Earth. It meant Loki wanted to see (and possibly cause) someone's violent death.

But when the god spoke, his voice was perfectly calm.

“Of course,” he said. “Please, escort us to him.”

 

After a short walk, they once again found themselves in the company of Jotunheim's king. At least this time, they were allowed to (well, more like _ordered to_ ) sit down on some very uncomfortable chairs and the king's chair was the same height as theirs were, so he wasn't towering over them. At least not too much. Frost _giant_ , remember?

They were offered some... Uhm, Tony called it _tea_ , for the lack of a better term except for the one provided by the king, and Tony simply wasn't able to pronounce or even remember _that_ one. The first sip tasted like lichen scraped off some rock, which is probably exactly what it was.

The second sip tasted like lichen scraped off some rock somebody pissed on first. Tony hoped that _that_ was just an exaggeration of his brain.

It was way worse than the potion they gave him to keep him warm. And he thought that was the most disgusting thing he's ever tasted in his life, at least while he was sober.

“It is nice to finally see the face of Loptr's savior,” the king commented. “You don't look like I thought you would.”

“And do I look better or worse, Majesty?” Tony smirked.

“You do not look... Asgardian. At all. I know that you are not. I'm not stupid. Still, I thought you would be more like them. You said you were the Thunderer's friend?”

“Oh, yes, I know where this is heading,” Tony smirked. “I'm not as tall as him, not as muscular as him... Ouch!”

“Please, my king, ignore him,” said Loki. “Midgardians apparently don't know how to behave in certain... situations.”

“I see,” the king nodded. “What was your name again, Midgardian?”

“Tony. Tony Stark. Your Majesty.”

“Majesty... That must also be some Midgardian thing. You may address me as king Helblindi, if you wish.”

“If you wish, Your... I mean king Helblindi.”

The king smiled and turned to Loki.

“So, little one...” he said. “Please tell me how is it possible that one of Odinson's friends saved a mere slave?”

“I don't know. You would have to ask him, my king,” said Loki. “I suppose that he felt... sorry for me when he saw me?”

“Yeah. That,” Tony nodded. He knew better than to argue with the god. “He really seemed like he didn't belong there. There's also the fact that we don't have slaves back home, at least where _I_ am from, and many people see slavery as something really horrible that should never happen. Yeah. I had to... do something.”

“And I thank you for what you did,” said Helblindi. “But how did it happen that you saw him? Did they send him to... be your servant?”

“You might call it that, king Helblindi.”

“What kind of a servant were you, little one?” Helblindi asked Loki. “Because for a servant, for a slave, your hands are very clean and smooth.”

Loki hissed, just a little, and Tony was almost sure he was the only one who heard it. He watched the god's hands twitch, saw him bite his lower lip...

Tony took a deep breath. It was important to make it clear that it was not easy to talk about this.

“Exactly the kind you imagine, king Helblindi,” he then said. “The sexual one.”

“Oh,” the king blinked. “I see.”

“I am sorry, my king,” Loki muttered. “I didn't want you to know about my shame.”

“I would never think an Asgardian would... lay with one of ours.”

“Well, if I am not mistaken, the younger Odinson has. And there are three children to prove it,” Loki smiled.

“What?!” Tony blinked. “Are you f... Sorry, go on. I don't really wanna know about Loki's sexual life. I thought he _hated_ frost giants.”

“Not all of them, it would seem,” Loki shrugged.

“Now tell me, Loptr,” the king frowned. “Were you ever the younger Odinson's... servant?”

“Yes. Many times.”

“Oh. I see...”

“But that does not matter. The younger Odinson is dead now,” said Loki. “He died in Svartalfheim. Years ago.”

“And what about the Thunderer? Did _he_ use your body?”

_Oh, shit_ , Tony thought. This was a perfect opportunity to get rid of an inconvenient person if he ever saw one. The king seemed pretty pissed off. Like he could march into Asgard himself if only Loki said yes.

“No,” Loki shook his head. “Never. He was always kind to me when he saw me, but _never_ invited me to his chambers. He prefers the company of young maidens.”

“And what about your savior?” asked the king and Tony did his best not to gulp.

This was yet another perfect opportunity, even more so, considering the target was much, _much_ nearer to the king.

_Holy shit, Bluebird, I_ really _hope you didn't bring me here just to get rid of me. Please, please, please..._

“Of course not. He _saved_ me,” Loki blinked. “And pardon me my boldness, my king, but why should you care? I am no one to you. You have no reason to want to... avenge me.”

“That, little one, is a discussion for another time,” the king smiled and Tony could see some affection in that smile. “But shouldn't a good king care for all of his people?”

“He should, my king.”

“Hm...” Helblindi muttered. “So you say the younger Odinson is dead. Interesting. I always thought...”

“My king?”

Helblindi shook his head.

“No. Nothing. Please, ignore me. It was merely... surprising to hear about it.”

“Well, from what _I_ heard, he died a heroic death,” said Tony. “To protect his brother. Quite unexpected, considering I only knew him as a little piece of shit who tried to conquer my planet and threw me out of the window.”

“Be glad you didn't get to know him properly, because trust me, he would have enjoyed tormenting you,” Loki grinned.

“Is that what he did to you?” asked Helblindi.

“My king,” Loki sighed. “If you do not mind, I would prefer not to speak about the younger Odinson. He is in my past, dead and buried. I don't want to even _think_ about him.”

“If you wish,” the king nodded. “Would you rather talk about your escape from Asgard? I wish to hear more about it.”

“Of course, my king. I will try my best. But I am very tired, so I am not sure that I will be able to explain everything properly.”

“I am sure that you will,” said the king. “Perhaps with your savior's help.”

Loki sighed and exchanged a short glance with Tony. The promise in his eyes was clear.

_Screw this up, Stark, and you don't have to worry about them killing you, because_ I _will get you first._

 

Two hours later they were finally back in their shared bedroom with the door firmly shut.

“Well... we're still alive,” Tony muttered, keeping his voice low, just in case someone was listening.

Loki made a complicated gesture with his fingers, creating a few green sparks. Then he took a deep breath and...

And he screamed at the top of his lungs, making Tony jump.

“Are you mad?!” the inventor hissed when the scream ended and Loki sat on the edge of the bed and buried his long, uhm... blue fingers into his long, thankfully still black hair.

“Don't worry, Anthony, no one will hear anything from this room, I made sure of that,” the god sighed.

“Right. Magic,” Tony nodded. “Okay, so what was that about?”

“Helblindi. He is much smarter than I thought. He is suspicious. Or didn't you see what he wanted to achieve with this... audience?”

“He wanted to catch us lying,” Tony nodded. “Contradict each other or... something like that. But we did well, didn't we? I mean... You're a great liar.”

“I suppose I am...” Loki whispered, going silent.

Tony shook his head and knelt on the floor in front of the bed, forcing Loki to look into his eyes and forcing _himself_ to look into those very disturbing red ones. Although he was getting used to them. Slowly.

“Okay... Did _I_ screw up?”

“Of course not,” said Loki and when he smiled, it seemed genuine enough. “You were fantastic. They call _me_ Silvertongue, but you would be worthier of that title than I am.”

“Well, that's what happens to you when tabloids follow your every step since the very first one and want your commentary on them,” Tony laughed. “I know a thing or two about bullshitting. But if we did good, and even you think we did good... What's wrong, Lo?”

“It's just... This wretched place,” Loki growled. “And this... disgusting skin I have to wear. You know how you said you thought the younger Odinson hated Jotuns? I do. With all my heart. And would you like to guess which one of them I hate the most, Anthony?”

“I have no idea, Bluebird.”

“Would you stop calling me-”

“Uhm, let me thin about it for a moment... Nope. Never. You're blue, deal with it.”

“Stark...” Loki growled.

“I mean it, Lo,” Tony shook his head, taking one of Loki's hands. That was probably a terrible idea, he knew, but it seemed _right_ at the moment. “I mean, I don't know your story, Thor didn't tell us much. I think that when he came back after... You know, those dark elf guys, he didn't want to talk about you. He thought you were dead, remember? And before you ask, yes, he mourned, we could see how it hurt him when he _did_ talk about you, so we... Didn't ask. So yeah, I don't know almost anything, and I don't know about frost giants, I only know the king is kinda cool... And that _wasn't a pun_ , you get it? What I _do_ know is that it's stupid to be ashamed of what you truly are or hate yourself for it. There's nothing you can do about it except for... accepting it.”

“Oh, please, shut up!”

The next thing Tony knew, Loki's hand was gone and the rest of the god with it, curled on the other side of the bed, his back to Tony.

“Now you're acting like a moody teen,” Tony commented.

“I would like to go to sleep now, if you don't mind.”

“Even _more_ like a moody teen. And where am _I_ supposed to sleep, eh?”

“Isn't the bed big enough for both of us?”

“Technically, yes. But you should know that when I end up sharing a bed with someone, it usually-”

“I assure you that there is no danger something like _that_ could happen,” said Loki, his voice getting colder than ice. “Get in bed, Stark, I want to turn off the lights.”

“Speaking of which, where does the light even come from?” asked Tony, taking off his shoes. “There are no candles, clearly, so-”

“Magic.”

“Yeah. Of course. Magic explains everything. But I wanna know... Hey!” Tony yelled when the lights went out.

“Good night, Stark.”

Tony sighed, clearly resigned, and laid down on the bed. There were furs, actual furs on it. He felt like in a fantasy tale. He would never say it out loud in front of Loki, but he kind of liked it.

“Just so you know,” he said. “I would like to hear that story of yours.”

“Just so you know,” Loki replied, “I currently have four knives within my reach and I know at least six completely different ways to use them to make you suffer as much as possible before I finally let you die.”

“Oh. Kinky,” Tony grinned into the darkness. “Maybe another time, honey. I'm dog-tired today. I promise you that tomorrow, you can tie me up and do whatever you want with me.”

He hoped that the little chuckle he heard was a sign that Loki was feeling at least a bit better.

“Good night, Anthony,” the god said quietly.

“Night, Lo,” Tony smiled.

 

When Tony woke up, he noticed two things almost simultaneously.

The first one was the smell that almost certainly meant food. Probably even delicious food.

The second one was the arm wrapped around his torso from behind, the leg wrapped around his legs and the hair tickling his neck. It seemed that Loki, in his sleep, wrapped himself around Tony like a little blue octopus and held him tight. He was also drooling on his hair.

Tony tried to move, but the god simply wouldn't let him go. He only muttered something about a stupid hammer.

“Oh, so you are a cuddly one,” Tony whispered. “You're so never gonna hear the end of this...”

He didn't actually mind being held like this. It had been a long time since he could play the little spoon and there was something soothing about it. It made Tony feel safe.

Which was funny, considering that he was in a strange, icy realm full of giants who wouldn't hesitate to kill him if they knew why he came here, and held by a maniac who probably also wouldn't hesitate to kill him, or maybe just leave him to die here if things went wrong.

_Shit, Tony, what have you gotten yourself into?_

_Oh, never mind. This is so nice..._

 

But the 'nice' ended much sooner than Tony would like. One moment, Loki was quietly snoring (which was just about the funniest thing Tony witnessed in _months_ ), the next there was only a sharp intake of breath and the reassuring presence of the god's body was suddenly gone.

_Holy shit, how fast is this guy?_

Tony rolled his eyes.

“Good morning to you too,” he said. “If you wanted to cuddle, you could have just asked, instead of trying to squeeze me to death, you know?”

“Stark,” Loki hissed. “I didn't mean to...”

“Don't worry,” Tony yawned, rolling around to face the god. “I know. I don't mind.”

“I don't care if you _mind_!”

“Oh. So you're afraid I'm gonna find out about your undying love for me? I already have. By the way, I need a shower. And I need to wash my hair. You drool.”

“Excuse me? I most certainly _don't_!” Loki protested and waved his hand. “You must have dreamed it up.”

Tony touched the back of his head, damp only a moment ago, just to find it completely dry.

“You just fixed it, you little piece of shit!”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Anthony.”

“Fine. Let's go back to your undying love for me.”

“You mean my undying hate?”

“Hush. It's too late now. I already know you like to cuddle. And it's one of the cutest things _ever_.”

Okay... Loki was fast. Because he once again grabbed Tony by the throat before the inventor could even realize he was about to do it.

“And does _this_ seem cute to you?” Loki growled.

But he wasn't squeezing, no. The hand was just there, on Tony's throat, more like a warning. Holding him, but not choking. It could have even been sexy if...

_And where the hell did_ that _thought come from?!_

“Oh, pardon me, monstrous and dangerous frost giant,” the inventor smirked. “Please, don't kill me, I have so much to give!”

“And could _a minute of silence_ be one of those things?” Loki sighed.

“Wait a minute... Nope. Not gonna happen.”

Loki shook his head and let go of Tony's neck.

“You are impossible, Anthony.”

“Likewise,” Tony grinned. “By the way, I suppose that tray full of food is meant for us, right?”

“It would seem so,” Loki nodded. “The king is most hospitable.”

“You know, Lo, you don't have to be all polite when you're talking to _me_ ,” Tony winked. “Do we have any plans for today?”

“I have no idea,” Loki shrugged. “The king said he was going to send me someone to show me... Well, show _us_ around, someone to explain me more about Jotunheim... As if I wanted to know more about this realm.”

“Yeah, I know, you _really_ hate it here,” Tony sighed and finally got out of the bed. “Why did you even volunteer for this... quest?”

“I didn't volunteer. I had no choice. The Tesseract must be returned to Asgard and Thor has made it perfectly clear that he expects _me_ to do it, even though it wasn't _my fault_ that it got stolen in the first place.”

“Well, it's only logical. I guess no one else would be able to do it anyway. Certainly no one could pull the frost giant trick you did, unless... You don't actually have any frost giants slaves, do you?”

“We certainly don't,” Loki smirked, slowly following Tony to a table with their breakfast. “And no, before you ask, prince Loki certainly never _used_ any unwilling servants. Those I _did_ have sex with were always more than willing.”

“Oh. Right. You see I never thought you would... I mean, you're a little piece of shit, but there are some limits.”

“I threw you out of the window.”

“Oh yes,” Tony laughed. “But tell me, and be honest... You knew I could fly, right? You knew I would survive it. You didn't actually want to _kill me_ , you giant blueberry, did you?”

“Go on and I might just start.”

“Oh, you didn't want to kill me. You didn't! That's so sweet, baby. Come on, gimme a kiss.”

“Stark, I am seriously worried about you,” Loki frowned. “You were always mad, but this... This is simply too much.”

“Only a few minutes ago, I was just _impossible_.”

“Anthony. If you cannot do this, you don't have to. I will find a way to get you back to Asgard. No matter what you think, I don't wish to watch you fall apart here.”

“I won't. I'm fine. And stop caring, please. It's scary. You're Loki. You're not supposed to be worried about me.”

Loki sighed.

“I am merely saying that I know-”

“Holy shit, what's _that_? It can't possibly be _food_ , can it?!”

The god gave up.

 

For Loki, it was a terrible day. Almost right after breakfast a guard came to take him (and Tony, of course) to see a priest who would, apparently, be Loki's teacher. And Loki had to go. And smile. And nod enthusiastically. And pretend to be excited when he learned yet another useless thing about a realm he despised.

For Tony, it was in fact pretty interesting, because he was always eager to learn new things and he wasn't nearly as prejudiced as Loki was. It was also nice to entertain his brain a bit.

He would never admit it to Loki, but he didn't mind being in this realm as much as he expected. They were nice to him, right? Always polite. The god talked about them like they were some _savages_ , but they weren't. They were scary, right. But he kind of liked them.

Tony imagined that if he _did_ say that to Loki, the god would certainly find another window to throw him out of, underground or not.

The moment they got back to their bedroom and closed the door behind them, Loki once again gave vent to his feelings by screaming so loud Tony was sure that if they didn't get out of this soon enough, he would end up deaf.

“Okay. And you're afraid _I'm_ gonna go crazy here. Makes sense,” Tony nodded.

The god took a deep breath and shook his head.

“I am fine. Completely fine,” he said.

“Good. So am I. We're both completely mentally healthy. Better than admitting we're both completely _mental_ , I suppose.”

Loki sat on the bed, his legs crossed, and looked straight at Tony. He seemed amused, which was good. At least he wasn't angry and/or sad.

“It's just... strange,” the god said. “In Asgard, parents tell their children stories about frost giants, and how, if the children won't behave, the giants will come and take them to Jotunheim. And here? The parents scare their children with exactly the same stories, only they're about Asgardians. How is that possible?”

“Because when you're a good guy in your story, it means you're inevitably gonna be a bad guy in someone else's story. Asgardians think they're good, but for frost giants... You're just scaring each other. If you would just sit down and talk-”

“You cannot talk with those _monsters_ ,” Loki hissed.

Tony smirked, sitting down right next to Loki.

“But they are not, are they? Those monsters you were taught to believe they were,” he shrugged. “They're different, just not... Wait. How did you say you got to Asgard in the first place?”

“Odin stole me from the main temple after the final battle with frost giants. He decided to raise me as his own. Never told me the truth. I found out by accident.”

“So he knew what you were, right?” Tony frowned.

“Yes, of course. Both Odin and mother knew.”

“And they still told you stories about _monsters from Jotunheim_?”

“Only father did. Mother hated them. She would scold Thor every time she heard him talking about slaying all those beasts.”

“Shit, and I thought Howard was a bad parent,” Tony murmured. “I... I'm really sorry.”

“There is no need. Every Asgardian heard similar stories as a child.”

“That doesn't mean it's _right_. And it doesn't mean _you_ should have.”

“And you call _me_ cute,” Loki laughed. “Oh, Anthony...”

Tony rolled his eyes.

“You know, what I said yesterday, it still stands. If you want to tell me your whole story or if you want to just talk about how you feel, I'll be here and I'll listen.”

“Will you? And will you tell me _your_ story in return? Will you want to talk about _your_ feelings? Your Pepper, your Captain America and the soldier who killed your parents?” Loki grinned and for a moment, Tony could once again see the psycho who tried to conquer his planet. But this time, Tony could clearly see that it was only a mask, that Loki _wanted_ to look like a psycho.

_Just like he did during the invasion_ , Tony thought. _Holy shit, and I didn't realize at all_...

 

Another two days had passed and Tony didn't dare to say it out loud, but it seemed to him that Loki was finally getting used to his blue skin and Jotunheim itself. At least he didn't try to scream his lungs out every time they got back to their room anymore, which was certainly an improvement. He also seemed mildly interested in some of the things the priest explained to him, and it _probably_ wasn't only because he wanted to use the information against Jotunheim later.

It was fine. Well, sort of fine. As fine as it can possibly be when you are on a strange planet to find one of the most dangerous artifacts you have ever seen and you are fully aware of the fact that if your hosts ever find out the reason why you are there, you will die, probably very slowly and painfully.

It was fine until a guard came and announced that the king would like to speak with Loptr, _alone_.

And of course, there was no way Loki could ever say no to that request.

 

When Loki came back, he was trembling and that moment, Tony was sure that the frost giants _did_ find out. He was sure they were both going to be killed.

“Lo?”

Loki shook his head,stumbled across the room and sat heavily on the bed.

“Lo,” Tony repeated, trying to keep his voice as soft as possible. “Talk to me. Bluebird, tell me what's wrong.”

“Don't call me Bluebird, you annoying mortal,” Loki growled.

“Right. So it's not as bad as I thought. Good,” Tony nodded. “So what happened?”

Loki shrugged.

“Helblindi told me. He just _told me_.”

“Right. I'm probably gonna sound like an idiot here, but... Told you _what_?”

“That I am Laufey's son, of course! The son of the former king, his firstborn, the prince of this realm, technically the crown prince. He told me that Laufey didn't just let me _die_ on a frozen rock like Odin told me, they didn't wanted to get rid of me because I was a _runt_ , they offered me as a sacrifice. A _sacrifice_!”

“Uhm,” Tony commented. “Honey, I hate to admit it, but I'm kinda lost.”

“He told me the _truth_!” said Loki. “The truth about me, about who my father is. Why would he do something like that?!”

“Perhaps he... thought you should know it?”

Loki's red eyes focused on the ceiling, as if he suddenly found it extremely interesting.

“But Odin never told me the truth. Never. And he was raising me for hundreds of years. Helblindi has known me for a few days and...”

Tony carefully sat by Loki's side, ready to jump back up if Loki turned out to be in a truly murderous mood.

“Okay, Lo. You're gonna hate me, all right, but I think the time has come for you to tell me your story, because I swear to God, I have no fucking idea what the fuck you're talking about right now.”

“You are truly tiresome, Anthony, are you not?” Loki smirked.

“Right. I am. But I have a feeling that right now, a part of you wants to tell me everything, so come on, let it out and fucking _talk to me_.”

Those red eyes had stopped being disturbing a few days ago. Now they were just... Loki's eyes. They didn't scare Tony, not even when they stared right into his. Tony didn't give up, he held Loki's gaze and in the end, it was Loki who gave up.

“As you wish, Anthony,” he sighed. “But it is not a very nice story. And it is a long one.”

“Doesn't matter. Just start.”

“Fine,” Loki nodded. “As you know, I was raised in Asgard, but...”

 

Tony had no idea how long he was sitting there and listening to Loki. It didn't matter. Perhaps Loki didn't exactly _want_ to talk about it, but he certainly _needed_ it. He probably hadn't had anyone to speak to properly for years and Tony knew from his own experience that sometimes just telling your story to someone really helps, even if they turn out not to be listening.

For the record, Tony _did_ listen, and carefully.

So, Loki was a frost giant, son of the previous king of Jotunheim, brought to Asgard as a little child by Odin, raised as an Asgardian prince, never knowing the truth. When he found out by accident, it became clear to him why he had never been able to become Thor's equal in 'their' father's eyes. He wanted revenge. He tried to get it, failed, tried to kill himself and failed again. He ended up in a very bad company of the Chitauri. He promised to obtain the Tesseract for them and conquer the Earth, partially because he was still angry at his brother, but mostly because the Chitauri... ensured his cooperation by torturing him.

That was the part where Tony had to stop Loki for a moment, because... _Torture? Seriously?!_

“It was not as bad as you perhaps imagine,” said Loki. “Nothing I wasn't able to deal with. They... They merely wanted to make sure that when the time comes, I will remember that if I fail, I will get to know _real_ pain.”

“But you failed.”

“Yes. I did.”

“Did you do it on purpose?”

Loki avoided his gaze.

“There is a being more dangerous than all the Chitauri combined. I knew that if I gave him the Tesseract, nothing would stop him. He would destroy your realm, and that would be only the beginning of it. Don't get me wrong, I don't _care_ about your realm, but... I knew that if I gave him what he wanted, it would only be a matter of time before I would become useless to him. And then he would kill me, without hesitation. He would destroy all the realms, rule what would be left of the universe. I was mad at Thor and Odin, yes, but I didn't want the whole universe to _burn_. My possible death... It didn't matter. I already felt dead inside. I wanted to die when I let go of the spear, and they were forcing me to live.”

“Lo...”

“It's just as your agent, your... Phil said before he died. He said that I lacked conviction. And it was the truth. Do you remember what _you_ told me in your tower? That I managed to piss off every single one of you? Do you remember how I replied?”

“You said...” Tony frowned. “ _That was the plan_.”

“Exactly,” Loki smiled. “I'm sorry to say my plan didn't work _exactly_ as I wanted. You failed to kill me.”

“And you wanted us to?”

“Anthony... I have been trying to get killed for several years. I suppose that Thor _did_ tell you about Svartalfheim.”

“He said you died a hero. Clearly, you didn't.”

“Not for the lack of trying,” Loki smirked. “Thor thinks that I faked my death, but I didn't, I _swear_ that I didn't. I was stabbed. I can show you the scar if you want to see it. I was dying. I _died_ , I am sure of it, but then... I came back. And I was alone. Thor was nowhere to be seen. I failed to die, _again_ , and I was alone and scared.”

Tony could see the raw pain in Loki's eyes and he had to force his hand to stay down and not reach out and touch Loki, just to calm him down a bit, just to let him know that he wasn't alone now.

“And how did you get out of there?” asked Tony.

“In the ship we used to get there. Disguised as one of the einherjar.”

“One of the... what?”

“Warriors.”

“Oh. Why?”

“I'm not sure. I... wanted to see Odin and tell him Loki is dead. I wanted to see if he would care. And he... He did. He was clearly in shock and he... He even shed a tear for me, would you believe it? And then he told me... Told my disguise, of course, to tell his son when he comes back that the throne of Asgard is his. And then he... left. I don't know where he went, he's probably wandering the branches of Yggdrasil. I swear I did _not_ kill him, even though Thor doesn't believe that either. He left. And I took my place on the throne.”

“You bitch. You know damn well he meant _Thor_ when he talked about his son.”

“Well, he should have been more specific,” Loki shrugged.

“You just told him Loki was dead. I don't think he felt the need to be specific!”

“If you think that this was my _plan_ , I assure you that it wasn't. I saw a chance. I took it. That's all. And I was _trying_ to be a good king. Asgard is not in flames, is it? I did what I could. I spent years protecting the Tesseract from Thanos, and if my brother wasn't such an idiot-”

“Well, frankly, he would have probably trusted you if you had just _told him the truth_. It's... Kind of funny, you see? You hate Odin because he lied to you... And then you did the same to Thor, you lied to him, you pretended to be Odin, just to get what you wanted. I can see why you are so confused that Helblindi told you the truth. You just don't know what _truth_ is!”

Tony had a feeling he went too far. Any moment now, Loki would kill him. He overstepped the boundaries. Loki would surely never allow him to get away with _that_.

But Loki merely shrugged.

“You... You are probably right,” Loki said.

“Well... shit,” Tony blinked. “Wasn't expecting that.”

“But you _are_ right, Anthony. Telling the truth _is_ hard for me. Telling a lie is always much easier.”

This time, Tony did reach for Loki's hand and gently squeezed it.

“Well, let's try it. Tell me the truth. Do you still want to die, like you did on the Bifrost? Or during the invasion?”

“Not like that, no,” Loki shook his head. “I feel more like... Like I did in Svartalfheim. I don't _wish_ to die, but... If it happened, I would not mind. That is how I felt when I was lying on the ground, thinking I was taking my last breaths. I didn't mind. I had no reason to stay alive. No unfinished business. Nothing. Right now, I have to return the Tesseract to Asgard, but when that is done... If Thor wants my head for what I did, I will just let him have it.”

“Lo, you may not realize it, but no matter what you do, Thor loves you. He would let you get away with murder. Technically, that's just what he's gonna have to do. Your brother will forgive you _anything_ , Ruby eyes.”

“Will you ever stop with the stupid nicknames, Anthony?”

“Never. You know it. Ice cube.”

Tony was glad when it made Loki chuckle.

“Just for the record, my dear mortal... You owe me _your_ story now.”

“What? Like... _Right_ now? And why do you need my story anyway? You know most of it from Barton, don't you? And you probably saw the rest. How would you know about Pepper and... you know, the rest of it? Or are you just the usual little piece of shit and you want me to suffer when I talk about it?”

Loki didn't answer, but he didn't have to. It was all clear to Tony.

So why didn't he let go of Loki's hand?

 

In the morning after their talk, Tony once again woke up to find himself in Loki's tight embrace. It was like being hugged by a very clingy blue octopus. He took a deep breath and tried not to laugh. He didn't want to wake Loki up.

He felt good. He felt safe. He didn't want it to end up too soon.

He closed his eyes and drifted back off to sleep.

When he woke up again, Loki was gone from the bed, and from the bedroom as well.

He didn't return for several hours.

 

By the time Loki _did_ return, Tony was pacing the room nervously, just about to start biting his fingernails. If he had any alcohol, he would be drunk. He didn't, so he wasn't. Unfortunately.

“Where the hell have you been?!” he yelled the moment Loki closed the door behind himself.

“I...” Loki hesitated. “I am sorry? The king wanted to speak with me and you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up. I didn't know it would make you angry.”

“I'm not angry,” Tony shook his head. “Do you have any idea how worried I was? I went through all the horrible scenarios in my head, _twice_. I thought they... Found out. Got you. Killed you. Or something.”

Loki blinked. It was clear that the confusion was very real.

“Why would you think that, Anthony?”

“I don't know, maybe because you were just _gone_ , you didn't leave a note, the guard wouldn't tell me anything except for, yes, that you went to see the king and he couldn't take me to you and I would have to wait. So I waited, but you were gone for so fucking long...”

“You're blabbering.”

“I know, it happens to me when I'm nervous, get used to it,” Tony smirked. “If it happens again, would you _please_ leave a note?”

“Norns, yes, I will. Happy now?”

“Absolutely. Thank you.”

“Good. And could you please sit down? You are making _me_ nervous. And I want to talk to you. About last night.”

“God, I hate it when people say that...”

“Performance issues?” Loki smiled. “You know, it's not uncommon. One out of five...”

“Very funny, Loki. Very, _very_ funny. Right. I'm sitting. Happy? So what about last night?”

“I wanted to ask you if it would be possible for you to... Forget it ever happened.”

“I hate it even more when they say _that_.”

“Anthony, I am trying to be serious.”

“Are you? You know nothing happened last night, right? I mean if talking about your feelings isn't considered sex in Asgard, in which case, baby, that was probably the worst sex I've ever had. Or maybe the... third worst?”

“I told you things I hadn't told anyone. Not even mother. Or my brother. I told you things I don't want anyone to know, things I am ashamed of-”

“Ashamed? Why? Because you have _feelings_? Because you are not a heartless bastard, completely in control of himself?”

“Because now you will think me weak.”

“You're not weak, you idiot,” Tony shook his head. “You don't automatically become weak just because you admit there's something wrong with you, admit your brain's all messed up, admit the things you've been through damaged you. It doesn't mean you're broken, and it certainly doesn't mean you can't still kick ass and basically be a dangerous badass. Trust me. I know.”

“It's not-”

“Oh, yes, it is. Look at you, you say you have no reason to stay alive and still... you're here. I know how hard it can be.”

“Do you, now? Of course you do. You think you are so clever, Stark, so-”

“Stop it. You're not fooling anyone. I _know_ that every time you start being like this, you're only doing it to protect yourself? You snarl and growl, you are cruel, just because you feel endangered.”

“And how can you be so sure?”

“Because that's what I use my irony for,” Tony shrugged. “You're not the only one who's damaged, Ruby eyes. You're not the only one who sometimes hates himself because he thinks he's weak. And you're definitely not the only one with daddy issues, by the way. Or the only one who was lied to by someone he looked up to. Not the only one who lost all he cared about, either. And certainly not the only one who doesn't have a reason to stay alive anymore.”

Loki bit his lower lip and sat by Tony's side.

“Oh,” he said.

“Oh,” Tony nodded.

“I had... No idea, Anthony. I mean, I knew that you were not completely... all right, but I would never think...”

“Of course you wouldn't. No one knows just how _bad_ it is. Why do you think I agreed to come here with you? Not just because I don't have anything to lose anymore. Look, I've spent the past few weeks trying to find something that would make me feel alive again. I probably hoped this would be it. We're both losers, aren't we?”

“Would you... like to talk about it, perhaps?” asked Loki.

“Not really. I mean... I know you said I owed you-”

“Forget about it. I understand. You don't owe me anything, Anthony.”

“Wow. Just look at you, Lo. Looks like you can stop being a total bitch if you just _try_...”

 

He really did _not_ want to talk about all the shit that had happened to him during the past few months. So why the hell did it take him only about ten minutes to start talking? Loki wasn't even pushing or trying to convince him, he was just sitting there quietly, right next to Tony.

And Tony suddenly found himself laying down on the bed, like it was a psychiatrist's couch.

“Okay, so... How much do you know about all the bad things that happened to me?” he asked.

“Anthony, you don't have to...” Loki murmured.

“How much?”

“Orphaned. Kidnapped in Afghanistan. Became Iron Man. Nearly died of palladium poisoning. Then... New York. Then I don't know much until Ultron. I was kind of... busy being imprisoned and becoming a king, and frankly, your life right before Ultron wasn't exactly interesting.”

“Yeah, except for the PTSD and anxiety caused by your invasion, which was basically what made me create Ultron in the first place. Yeah, I guess my nightmares are not interesting, either.”

“I... I'm sorry.”

“No, it's... I would have dealt with that. My mental health wasn't the best after the Ultron debacle, but I was still able to keep my shit together, _mostly_. I would get better. But then Pepper got tired of it all and... Yeah, we called it a break, but it was a breakup and we both knew. And then... Civil War. That was the last straw. That was when I lost _everything_. That was what broke me. I... I don't know what to tell you about it. I had a friend and he betrayed me. He fought me because to him, everything is either black or white, good or wrong. He doesn't know what a _compromise_ is. He fought me to save _his_ friend, and I, like the biggest idiot on the planet, actually went and offered him to make peace, I offered him my help, because I thought it was the right thing to do. Only to find out that he... He knew Barnes had killed my parents. And didn't bother to tell me.”

“Would it have changed anything if he had?” asked Loki.

“Yes. _Everything_ ,” Tony growled. “Because now, if... No, _when_ he turns up again, I can't trust him. Also, I would have had time to accept that Barnes was my parents' killer. I probably wouldn't have... tried to kill him, yes. Because you know... Right now, yes, I am pissed off, but I don't see red anymore. If I met him now, I wouldn't be excited, but... It wouldn't go as horribly as the last time. I've had time to think about it. I mean, I know, and I _knew_ that it wasn't his fault, that he was the weapon, not the murderer, but still... Did you see that video, too?”

“I did,” Loki nodded.

Tony tried to blink back his tears, but it didn't work. He had to let them fall.

“Howard...” he whispered. “Howard knew what he was getting into. He knew people would try to kill him. It was his decision. He took the risk. But mum... Yes, you could argue that she knew what she was getting into with _him_ , but... She was my _mum_ , Lo. She was so strong, but so sweet, so nice, she didn't deserve to die like this, she just didn't, she...”

“I know,” Loki said quietly. “It was a shock when they told you she was dead, but when you found out _how_ she died...”

“I couldn't stop myself. All I could think of was that the man who killed my amazing mum was standing right next to me. I am not proud of what happened, but...”

“I know,” Loki murmured, laying down next to Tony. “I understand.”

“I know it was bad. I know I shouldn't have...”

“You had every right to.”

“Oh, great. You know you're probably the only one who thinks that, and you're a crazy mass murderer, so it probably says everything about how messed up the whole situation is.”

“I am not saying revenge is a good thing. If anyone knows it never gives you the satisfaction you hoped for, it's me. But you had every right to react the way you did. I would have done the same.”

“That isn't exactly helpful, Lo.”

“Because I am a crazy mass murderer?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“You have really hurt my feelings, my dear,” Loki smirked.

Tony sighed and closed his eyes. His hands were starting to shake, his breath was speeding up, as did his heartbeat and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

_Shit, I knew talking about it was a bad idea_...

And then Loki wrapped his arms around Tony's torso, holding the man firmly. Tony could hear Loki's calm breathing, feel his heartbeat...

“Shhhh,” Loki whispered. “Everything is going to be all right. I'm here. I'm with you.”

To his own surprise, Tony felt himself starting to calm down almost immediately. And he suddenly realized that a strange warmth was spreading through his body, right from the places where Loki's fingers were touching him.

“Are you using your magic on me, Ruby eyes?” Tony asked, his eyes slowly starting to close.

“I might be. Do you mind?”

“Hell no. Just... panic attack... How did you... know?”

He fell asleep before he could hear the answer.

“Because,” Loki sighed. “I have seen you have quite a few of them...”

 

“You're such a _bitch_ , Lo,” Tony growled as they were following a guard through the halls of the underground palace, only about two hours after Tony's nearly avoided anxiety attack.

Loki watched the guard flinch a little. Apparently the king wasn't the only one who knew about 'Loptr' being the son of Laufey.

“Oh, Anthony. Admit it, you needed the rest. Don't you feel better now?”

“If you mean that I don't feel like my head's gonna explode any minute now, then yeah, I do. Thanks, Lollipop.”

“You're welcome, my dear.”

Tony could see the guard cast curious glances at them over his shoulder and he gulped.

“Uhm, Lo... Considering you're a prince now... It might be better if you didn't call me, you know... your dear. Especially since there is, for the record, _nothing_ _going on between us_!”

“Are you worried that you would be killed if someone even _thought_ that we were lovers?”

“Well, sort of. I mean, I saw the king's face when he asked if I ever... you know.”

“I am sure that he was only afraid that I had been forced to do it,” said Loki. “Now, if I give you my consent, it is certainly-”

“You don't have to give me my consent. There isn't anything to consent to. We are not lovers!”

“Do you find me so disgusting, Anthony?” Loki sniffed.

“You piece of shit, you know damn well I don't. And stop laughing, it's not funny! Where are we going, anyway?”

“No idea,” Loki shrugged. “But I guess that we are about to find out any moment.”

And he was not mistaken. Only about a minute later, they arrived into a large cave, completely ordinary and plain, but with several pools of hot, steaming water.

“Oh. A bath,” Tony nodded.

“Yesss...” Loki hissed. “Just what I needed...”

 

It took Loki exactly ten seconds to dismiss the guard and start stripping, which made Tony's eyes almost pop out of his head. The stripping. Not dismissing the guard.

“Uhm, Ruby eyes...” he gulped as Loki's shirt fell to the floor and the not-so-giant frost giant started to undo his pants. “I really hope you don't go... Oh, great, you do. Holy shit, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“As opposed to what, taking a bath fully dressed?” Loki smirked across his shoulder, obviously not at all ashamed of his nakedness. Not that there was anything to be ashamed of. Especially not his long, lean limbs, broad shoulders and _oh, damn, that ass_... Tony was only grateful that Loki was facing the pools, not him, so Tony couldn't see the _front_ of that gorgeous body.

“I'm pretty sure you could just wave your hand and create a swimsuit or something.”

“Oh, don't tell me that the great Tony Stark, the playboy,” Loki laughed as he slowly walked towards one of the pools, “is _shy_? Or is it just _my_ nakedness that is making you uncomfortable? Or perhaps it is affecting you? Hm?”

“You're incredible, Lo.”

Loki had to bite his lower lip to stop his grin from spreading too wide.

“So come on, if you're not shy,” he said and lowered himself into the water. “Join me.”

“Uhm, I'd rather not, thanks,” Tony shook his head, even though he desperately, with his whole being, wanted to just jump into the water.

He hadn't had a bath, or even a shower, for days. And even though it sometimes happened to him (in normal life, when he didn't have to pretend to be a crazy god's savior) that he forgot to shower for days, here and now... He felt filthy. He was sure that he was starting to smell pretty bad. He longed to take a proper bath, but...

“If you don't wash yourself, Anthony, you are welcome to sleep on the floor tonight, because I will certainly _not_ let you spend another night in bed.”

“That's hardly fair.”

“Or maybe I should just ask for a separate bedroom for you. Seriously, Stark, you stink.”

“Fine. As you wish, your princely highness,” Tony snorted and took off his T-shirt. It felt so _good_ after all those days... “I hope you'll be able to cope with my masculinity though.”

“I saw young boys more muscular than you in Asgard, my dear.”

“Did you now? Why are you so eager to see me naked then?” asked Tony and dropped his pants _and_ underwear at the same time. “By the way, you know I don't have to join you? I can choose whichever one of the _other_ pools.”

“Of course you can,” Loki smiled. “I'm glad you feel better, Anthony.”

“What makes you think that I do, Bluebird?”

“The fact that you are once again unable to shut up.”

Tony shrugged as he did what Loki had told him to and joined the god in the pool. It wasn't too deep – when Tony was standing up, the water (wonderfully _hot_ ) only reached his rib cage. Tony lowered himself so he could get most of his body into this liquid heaven and moaned.

“Fuck,” he said. “Couldn't you have asked Helblindi sooner?”

“Quite enthusiastic for someone who didn't want to get into the bath in the first place,” Loki smirked.

“I didn't want to get into it with _you_ ,” Tony commented. “Oh, but this is poor bliss. How is this even possible on this icy planet? It's like fucking... Iceland or something. Not that I'm complaining!”

“Of course not,” Loki grinned.

“Never thought you'd be the one into skinny dipping, though. Well, life's full of surprises, I guess.”

“And _I_ never thought that you would be so prudish, Anthony. So... Yes. Full of surprises indeed.”

“Prudish? Excuse me? Are you sure you didn't mean Captain America? Because Tony Stark certainly isn't prudish. You just _surprised me_ , that's all. I would never have expected you to just drop your pants without me even having to ask,” Tony grinned. “Don't worry. I know there's nothing sexual in this. If there was, I'd have to warn you not to kiss me, because I haven't brushed my teeth since I left... Have you piece of shit just magically brushed my teeth?”

“I might have,” Loki shrugged. “You could have asked for it sooner.”

“And what happens if I ask for a bar of soap?”

“I will tell you that there is one just over there, provided by our dear hosts,” said Loki and pointed to a place on the floor right next to the edge of the pool. “Probably made of fat and ash, most definitely unscented. You're free to use it. I will not.”

“Well, it smells suspiciously like lilac,” Tony muttered when he took the soap in hand.

“Oh?” Loki blinked. “In that case, I might... reconsider my last statement.”

“Too late for that, honey. It's mine now.”

Before Tony even noticed him move, Loki was standing right in front of him. Shit, the guy was _fast_.

“Give me my soap, Stark,” he growled.

“Fuck, there are two possible replies to that and I don't know which one to use. What's better, just telling you to make me or making a joke about the possible outcomes of dropping a bar of... Hey!”

“Sorry, Anthony dear, but I need to wash my hair. I promise that I will return it.”

“I would wash your hair if you asked.”

“Would you? All right. If it pleases you...”

Loki gave Tony back the bar of soap and dived under the surface of the water. The next moment he was back, his hair dripping wet.

“Seriously? Okay,” Tony laughed and got to work.

He soaped Loki's black locks (and were those really _curls_?!) and dropped the soap back on the ground next to them. Then, he didn't even know why, he started to slowly massage Loki's scalp. It made the god moan and close his eyes. That, in turn, made Tony's heart skip a beat.

“See, it's all... kind of amusing,” Loki murmured. “When I mentioned the fact that I wanted a bath to Helblindi, he blinked and asked if it is common in Asgard to wash oneself often. He couldn't believe it when I said that yes, it is.”

“And you call that amusing?” Tony frowned. “I call it a tragedy. Asgardians are prejudiced against frost giants, frost giants are prejudiced against Asgardians...”

“Perhaps you are right, but... Oh, Anthony, just like _that_ ,” Loki groaned.

All of a sudden Tony realized just how close together they were standing, how nice Loki's hair felt, how much this all felt like flirting and...

He jerked back, almost yanking out a fistful of Loki's hair.

Shit. He wasn't suppose to flirt with Loki. They were here on a mission, okay? Needless to say that Loki was the crazy guy who once wanted to enslave humanity. _So who cares if he's hot and damaged and broken and did I mention hot?_

“I...,” Tony croaked. “Sorry. All... Done, I suppose. You can wash the soap out. I'll... I'm fine with just water, I guess.”

“Whatever you wish, Anthony,” Loki sighed, but the bar of soap suddenly moved by itself to Tony's side. “Just in case you change your mind.”

“Thanks,” Tony muttered. “I guess.”

“You're welcome. I _guess_.”

As if the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees. There was no going back to easy chatter now, and probably no way to make Loki smile again. Everything was ruined.

That was... good, wasn't it? At least they wouldn't get back to flirting.

 

In the end, they didn't even get back to talking. Tony tried, but Loki wouldn't say a word to him until they reached their bedroom again. Then, and only then, Loki turned to Tony, his expression completely blank.

“I felt the energy of the Tesseract on our way back. I might know where it is hidden, at least approximately. I think we should investigate it further tomorrow. Or I can go alone if you don't wish to come with me. I will spend the evening with the king and I think that it would be unwise to bring you with me. But if you really wish to come...”

“No. I... I'm fine,” Tony sighed. “You go alone.”

Tony knew he probably screwed up, even though he wasn't sure why _exactly_ was the god so mad.

“Fine,” Loki nodded. “Don't wait for me. I don't know when I will be back.”

“Yeah. Don't worry, I won't...”

 

And he didn't wait. Still, he was awake when Loki came back to their room.

Awake, but pretending to be asleep.

So he knew it when Loki laid in bed next to him, and he felt the soft, fleeting brush of Loki's fingers on his cheek.

He sighed, this time pretending to be waking up.

The touch of Loki's fingers was firmer this time. A moment later, Tony felt Loki's magic surging through him and he fell asleep for real.

 

When the morning came, Loki was still acting weird, but much less so. He even smiled at Tony.

All right, not exactly at Tony, more like at his horrible morning hair, and he didn't smile, he laughed so hard he almost fell from the chair he was sitting in, but hey, Tony wasn't the one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

When Loki had finally stopped laughing, Tony crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. It was supposed to look intimidating, but it only made Loki giggle. And Tony would never have thought that Loki was even _able_ to giggle.

“Oh, come on, it's not that funny,” Tony growled. “It's not my fault that your hair is always perfect. So why don't you just magically fix _mine_ and share that plan you mentioned yesterday?”

“As you wish,” Loki shrugged, his grin slowly fading. He waved his hand and Tony could feel the magic on his scalp. “It is not exactly a _plan_ , though. We will simply go for a walk through the palace and we will accidentally end up just where the Tesseract is. I need to make sure I wasn't mistaken before we try to take it back. We will have one chance, and one chance only, Stark, so we have to know what we are doing.”

“Are you sure you know who you're talking to? I'm not exactly the one to stick to the plan. I like to _improvise_.”

“Well, I suggest you learn quickly, because I can guarantee that not sticking to _my_ plan is going to kill you.”

“Let me guess. Either the frost giants kill me... or you do.”

“Exactly,” Loki smiled. “Eat your breakfast, Stark. My teacher is probably already waiting for us. We will go for our... little walk when my lessons are over.”

 

In the end, it was almost evening (at least Tony thought that it was, as it was really hard to tell in Jotunheim) when they were finally free. Tony was tired and all he wanted was to have dinner and get in bed, but Loki needed his help.

All right, not exactly, but Tony really liked to think that Loki needed him.

They were walking slowly, talking about Jotunheim, about the palace itself... It was supposed to seem like they were just enjoying their time together, the lost prince and his Midgardian savior, wandering aimlessly through the corridors.

Except for the fact that Tony could see how tense Loki was, no matter how well he was hiding it. How the hell did Tony become an expert on Loki's body language?

One moment, Loki's breath hitched in his throat and the god bit his lip. He suddenly turned right, urging Tony to do the same. They ended up in a corridor with only one door, right at the end.

Tony looked at Loki and the god nodded. They didn't even need words.

Then they both heard quick footsteps. Loki's mouth fell open. He had no idea someone had been following them. His brain tried to come up with an explanation, to find a way to talk himself out of it, but his mind was blank.

Tony's wasn't. It came up with the shittiest idea possible, a thing that could never work, but he still had to try.

He grabbed the back of Loki's head and pressed their lips together, moaning instantly. He took a step back, so his back met the wall, and held Loki close, hoping he would get the idea.

Loki didn't, clearly, at least not until the cough by their side came.

Tony pushed Loki away and immediately started to pretend to smooth out his untouched clothes.

“Holy shit, Lo, I _told you_ someone would see!” he scolded and looked at the guard. “I'm sorry, I really am, I know we shouldn't do this outside of our room, I _told_ him to keep his hands to himself before we left the bedroom this morning, but you see what he's like? But still, he's not a person you would say no to, because... You see how _hot_ he is, right? Look, I really am very sorry, I... Are we in trouble? We're in trouble, right? Lo, I'm so gonna kill you for this!”

The guard blinked slowly, trying to process Tony's words. After a few seconds, he gave up.

“I will take you back to your room,” he said. “There, you will have the... privacy you need. But I have to tell the king about this.”

“Yeah. Of course you do,” Tony sighed. “Well, what can we do. At least our heads are still attached to your necks, right, Lo? Though I'm not sure for how long will _yours_ remain that way, because I'm really tempted to cut it off with my fingernails...”

“I...” Loki muttered. “I am truly sorry, I thought...”

“Please,” said the guard. “Just follow me.”

 

Tony couldn't believe that the trick worked, but it did. Maybe the guard wasn't absolutely convinced by it, but it kept them alive and out of prison and that was all that mattered to Tony. He was almost sure that even Loki's status wouldn't save them if someone became suspicious that they were trying to find the Tesseract.

When the guard closed (and _locked_ ) the door behind them, Loki, who hadn't said a word during the whole way back, finally spoke.

“What... was that supposed to mean?” he whispered.

“Oh, don't worry about that,” Tony shrugged. “Just a stupid trick no one would fall for back on Earth. When you're about to get caught sneaking around somewhere you shouldn't be, and there's two of you, just pretend the only reason why you sneaked in there was to make out.”

“Oh. Oh... That is... interesting.”

“Interesting? You froze up there, you shit. It's not interesting, it saved our fucking lives!”

“Perhaps. I still wish you hadn't done it.”

“Excuse me? And why exactly? Oh, please, don't tell me you wanted to go for that _walk_ of yours just because you are starting to feel suicidal again...”

They only stared at each other for a few seconds, both of them realizing how dangerously close together they were standing, but it was Loki who moved first, crashing their mouths together, making Tony gasp in surprise.

Several thoughts were running through Tony's head simultaneously, but one was much more prominent than the others, the dawning realization that Loki's mere proximity made Tony's heart beat faster, that he wanted this, _fuck, he wanted this_...

He let Loki push him towards the bed, and then right onto it.

This wasn't happening. He wasn't just going to have sex with this Asgardian lunatic.

But oh, he _was_.

Right before Tony's eyes, Loki's skin started to change color, reverting to its usual (though unnatural for him) pale human one, his irises turning green again.

“Wait,” Tony murmured. “What are you-”

“Not like that,” said Loki as he covered Tony's body with his. “Never like that.”

“But I don't-”

“I do.”

When their lips met again, it was so much gentler. Tony loved it, he adored every single second of it, and he wanted more, _more_...

Their clothes were gone in a simple wave of Loki's right hand.

Yes, Tony was definitely going to have sex with this Asgardian lunatic.

“Do you remember how you told me there was no way for me to come out on top?” Loki whispered in Tony's ear.

“Uhm, yes?”

“Watch me.”

“Oh, _yes_...”

 

Tony was definitely getting too old for this.

He was a mess. A trembling, gasping mess. His heart was beating way too fast, his breath just wouldn't slow down, his throat felt hoarse from all the screaming.

Okay, maybe he wasn't too old. Maybe just Loki was too good.

Loki's arm was wrapped around him and the god was lying by Tony's side, gently kissing his neck and hair.

“Oh...” Tony whispered when he finally caught his breath. “Look at you. You definitely are cuddly as hell. That's just cute...”

“Don't ever call me cute again,” Loki growled and bit Tony's earlobe in warning. “I am not cute.”

“You're so cute,” Tony laughed. “God, it was perfect. You're _fantastic_. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed sex so much.”

“Don't tell me you haven't had sex since your Pepper left you.”

“Yeah, I have... But I didn't enjoy it.”

“Mhm...” Loki murmured. “In that case, I was glad to be of help.”

Tony watched Loki's arm turn blue again and when he turned his head, he was once again staring into a pair of deep red eyes. Funny thing was that he couldn't see the difference between those and the green ones now.

“Changing just in case?” Tony smiled. “You still look lovely, you know?”

“Do I? There must be something wrong with your eyes, Anthony. Or with your brain. _That_ is even more likely.”

“Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't be in bed with you,” Tony laughed. “I mean... in bed, right after we had some _glorious_ sex.”

“Right now, Anthony,” Loki giggled and bit Tony's earlobe again, “I have a strange feeling that I have managed to completely... How do you Midgardians say it? Fuck your brains out.”

“Yup. That's a perfect description.”

Loki's arm tightened around Tony's waist.

“It was fantastic,” the god whispered. “Thank you.”

Tony blinked. When was the last time someone thanked him for sex? He had no idea. And what was the usual reaction?”

“Oh, don't mention it,” he said. “My pleasure.”

“Yeah. I could hear _that._ ”

“Do you...” Tony sighed. “Do you wanna go get back the Tesseract tomorrow, now that you know where it is?”

“Yes. There is no reason to wait,” Loki nodded.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

“Is it going to get us killed?”

“Possibly.”

“Right. Enlighten me, please.”

“You don't have to do it, Anthony. We can find a way to get you back to Asgard, I am sure of that.”

“Of course we can. Tell me the plan.”

“We are going to get into that room and take the Tesseract. Then I will send it back to Asgard, using my magic, of course. Then... We will have to get to another secret path, the one they used to get into Asgard in the first place, the one leading straight into the treasure room. We are lucky, because it is in the palace, and not far from the room with the Tesseract. I am not sure if there are any security spells in the room, so we might get away with it easily... Or we might have to fight our way out. Which is going to turn out to be quite of a problem, since you don't have your armor-”

“Yeah, don't worry about my armor. How are you planning to get to the room in the first place?”

“I will not worry about your armor and you will not worry about that,” Loki yawned. “Illusions can solve many problems.”

“Okay. I'll believe you... By the way, are you going to play clingy octopus again tonight?”

“Even clingier than usual. Or do you mind?”

“Not at all. As long as I can get a good night kiss, I'll be fine.”

He got it only a few seconds later.

And _damn_ , he really couldn't get enough of this.

He really, really hoped Loki's plan wouldn't get them killed. What a fucking shame that would be...

 

They were on the way to Loki's lessons again and Tony was confused. Didn't Loki say that they would go get the Tesseract first thing in the morning? Yeah, he definitely did.

All right, so the first thing they did when they woke up was to have sex again, slow and sensual this time, and _fuck, Tony, you're not supposed to like him this much, how did it even happen?!_ And the second thing was to have breakfast, but then...

“All right,” Loki suddenly said. “Move to the right, quickly, and be careful not to hit one of the guards. Now.”

There was just something strange in Loki's voice, something that made Tony do exactly as he was told. So he moved, but at the same time, he saw himself walk on as if nothing happened.

“Illusion. Right,” he blinked. “That's just cool.”

“And do you know what is even cooler? That we are invisible now.”

“Are we? Wow.”

“Come on. We don't have much time. If someone tries to touch the clones, they will disappear. And that will be very bad for us.”

“You don't have to tell me twice,” Tony nodded and didn't even blink when Loki grabbed his hand and quickly dragged him off to the nearest corridor.

 

They reached the Tesseract room without getting into trouble. That was good, but Tony knew that the real challenge was only just starting.

Loki closed his eyes and his hands started to glow green as he stood in front of the door. A few seconds later he nodded and the door started to open, but it also seemed to stay firmly closed, so... Another illusion?

“Inside. Hurry,” Loki muttered.

Even though Tony's eyes were giving him mixed signals, his brain decided to trust Loki. He walked through the door and Loki followed.

The room was more of a safe than a room. It was small, completely unadorned and the only thing that could be considered a piece of furniture was the stand on which the Tesseract was placed, glowing just as bright as Tony remembered it.

“Okay... so what now?” Tony asked.

It took Loki several seconds to even move. And Tony noticed the god's breath was speeding up, the strange glow in his eyes...

“Loki? Are you all right? Can you... I mean, you _can_ do this, right? Because if you can't...”

“Please, just _shut up_ ,” Loki growled and, before he could change his mind, grabbed the glowing cube with his bare hand and a blink of an eye later, it was gone. Loki let out a deep breath.

“Is it in Asgard?” asked Tony.

“Yes,” Loki nodded. “I am sorry. But you have no idea how much raw _power_ is in that cube. It was so tempting to just take it and use it. What I could do with it, oh... It's like a drug. It was like a drug during the invasion, too, like being drunk...”

“But we are done now, aren't we? We can... We can get back to Asgard.”

“Well...” Loki sighed. “There might be a little problem with that.”

“What problem?”

“There was a security spell on the Tesseract. It couldn't have been removed without alerting its caster, so I... didn't bother.”

“Meaning there's probably a little army of guards heading here right now, yeah?”

“Probably.”

“Right. May I suggest we, you know... Get out of here, ASAP?”

“That would probably be a good idea,” Loki agreed.

As soon as they opened the door, it became clear that it was too late. The first guard was just entering the corridor.

“Anthony, do you remember how you told me not to worry about your armor? I am kind of worrying now,” said Loki as his own armor materialized on his body and a dagger appeared in his hand.

“Working on it. Just have my back until it gets here, will you?”

“Gets here? What do you-”

And there it was, much faster than he expected, the whooshing sound signaling the arrival of his suit.

Loki stabbed the first guard who reached them just as the right glove assembled around Tony's hand, the rest of the suit following while the god was taking care of another three frost giants. And it shouldn't be so hot, but...

Another three guards ran into the corridor and this time, it was Tony who handled them.

“I really think we should get out of here before things go _really_ bad, Ruby eyes! Do you know the way to the secret path?”

“I think so.”

“Great. Come on then.”

“What are you... Oh, no, _not again_!” he moaned as Tony grabbed his waist and took off.

“Yes, again, and be glad there are high ceilings here. At the end of the corridor, left or right?”

“Left. But is this really-”

“Left it is.”

 

Not even a minute later they landed in the middle of yet another corridor. There was nothing special about the place, but Loki insisted that this was it, this was the place. Tony didn't want to argue with him.

“Here,” Loki whispered and placed his hands on the wall. “Just a little push...”

It was weird that there were no sounds of pursuit, not a single guard following them.

The reason, of course, became clear a moment later.

“I thought you would betray me, Loptr,” said king Helblindi as he appeared out of thin air. “But I hoped that you wouldn't.”

“Yes, I tend to disappoint my brothers like that,” Loki nodded. “And please, don't call me Loptr. I am Loki. The prince of Asgard..”

Tony expected the king to be enraged, but there was nothing, no emotional reaction whatsoever.

“So it is just as I always thought. The younger Odinson is in fact the lost prince of Jotunheim.”

“I am _not_!” Loki growled. “Tell me, Helblindi, why the Tesseract? Why not the Casket? Did you speak with _him_? Did he promise to return the Casket to you if you give him the cube? Did he promise to spare your realm when he wreaks havoc on the rest of the universe? Because I have news for you, _brother_. He would have never kept his word.”

“You don't know that.”

“Oh, yes, I do. I _know him_ ,” said Loki, just as the part of the wall beneath his fingers simply disappeared and the wall started to collapse, opening a hole filled with sparkling rainbow lights. It was beautiful.

“You have no idea what you have done, Loptr...”

“It's _Loki_!” the god growled, magic shooting from his fingertips. Helblindi's body met the wall and slid to the floor, completely motionless.

“Did... Did you just kill...” Tony gulped.

“No, he is only unconscious. Now shut up and move. I need you to walk through first. It will pull you towards Asgard, don't worry. The only thing you have to do is never stop until you reach the treasure room. Can you do that for me?”

“Wait, what about you?” Tony frowned, sliding his faceplate up. “Aren't you coming?”

“After you. I need to close this portal, to completely cut off this branch of Yggdrasil, so the path can never be opened again. It can only be done from the inside, but I need to have _you_ on the other side first.”

“Why?”

“Anthony, we don't have time-”

“Why, Loki?”

“Because...” Loki sighed. “Because it will be very hard to get back to Asgard once the path is closed. Almost impossible.”

“You shit. You knew this all along. And you lied to me.”

“I didn't lie, I merely... didn't mention it.”

“Right,” Tony smirked. “I'll just keep any possible comments to myself. But just for your information, I don't care how impossible it is to get to Asgard, you _will_ make it there, you hear me?”

“Anthony...”

“Please? For my pretty brown eyes?”

“All right. For your pretty brown eyes.”

That was the moment where the sounds of pursuit finally reached them.

Tony was the first one to react. He gave Loki a last quick kiss and winked.

“I'll be waiting on the other side.”

With that, he walked through the portal door.

Loki took a deep breath and waited, counting seconds in his head. He had to be sure. He couldn't let both of them be lost.

Just as the first guards appeared at the end of the corridor, Loki set his foot onto the path.

He only took a few steps. He knew he should be in the middle of the way to Asgard for the spell to work best, but this would have to do, in case the frost giants wanted to follow him.

So he closed his eyes and focused. He reached out with his magic, found the connection between the path and reality, on this end and the other one in Asgard. The feeling was weak, but it was there. So he focused even harder... And made the cut.

He felt the difference immediately. He knew it in his heart that the branch was dying. Perhaps if he ran, he could get to Asgard before...

He knew he was only lying to himself. Just as he couldn't reach Jotunheim now from where he was standing, he couldn't reach Asgard, either. No matter what he said to Tony, there was no way back that he knew of. He was in the space between the realms, just as he was when he fell. He was lost to Heimdall, he couldn't be reached by the Bifrost...

He felt the path crumble beneath his feet and he let his body fall, once again. In his mind, there was a smiling face with sparkling brown eyes.

And he was perfectly content with it being the last thing he ever sees.

 

He knew for sure that he had only been falling for a few seconds when he felt an arm wrap around his waist. He jerked violently, the first thought being that he was found by Thanos, _again_. But then he opened his eyes and he was staring at an unmistakable golden faceplate.

“Anthony!” he yelped. “What-”

“Uhm, I don't know,” said Tony. “Probably just making sure you're gonna keep your promise and get to Asgard. Because right now, you kind of have to get _both of us_ there.”

“You... _idiot_!” Loki growled. “You half-wit, you complete moron, you-”

“Glad to see you too, babe,” Tony nodded.

“Do you realize what you have done?!” Loki yelled. “There is no way to get us back, you cretin, the only thing you've achieved is that we're _both_ gonna die here now!”

“You know, babe, we _really_ need to talk about that lying of yours, because it's a terrible habit, and also kinda annoying. Now, will you get us to safety or not?”

“And just how am I supposed to do that, you dick?!”

“How should I know? You're the great sorcerer here. Use your magic.”

“It's not possible,” Loki hissed. “There is no spell-”

“It didn't use to be possible to build a miniaturized arc reactor and guess what Tony Stark did, locked in a cave in Afghanistan, with his life literally depending on a fucking _car battery_? The trick is, you have to think outside the box. Forget everything you've ever been taught and just make your own rules!”

“You are such an idiot, Stark...”

“I believe you've already mentioned that, Ruby eyes.”

Loki rolled his eyes.

“All right. I will _try_. But you will keep _quiet_ while I do.”

“Quiet? Me? Oh, Loki, you break my heart. It's like you don't even know me...”

 

Thor was pacing the throne room and a storm was brewing all around the palace.

“It has been an hour since the Tesseract appeared. Where are they, Heimdall?!”

“I have already told you,” said Heimdall. “I cannot see them.”

“You see everything. They have to be _somewhere_!”

“I cannot see everything, Thor. There are places my sight cannot reach, and if they got lost there...”

“No. _No_ ,” Thor growled and the following thunder shook the whole palace. “They are not _lost_!”

“There is nothing you can do, Thor, but wait.”

The downpour outside intensified.

“Loki is my little brother,” Thor whispered. “I am supposed to protect him.”

“Loki is more than capable of protecting himself. You did nothing wrong when you sent him to Jotunheim. You couldn't have followed him, Thor. They would have recognized _you_ immediately. Isn't that why you asked your Midgardian friend to join him?”

“And what good has it done! I haven't only killed my brother, I also killed Stark!”

“Thor-”

“I sent Loki to that wretched place because I was angry. I didn't even let him tell me the whole story. I was mad at him, Heimdall, so I sent him to his death. What does it make me, Heimdall?”

“The biggest oaf of all the realms?” said Loki's voice.

Thor turned around, gasping.

And there they were. Tony, who was just taking off his helmet, and Loki, who was leaning against the wall, his face pale blue.

“Brother!” Thor yelled.

“Keep your voice down, _please_ , if you're capable of it,” Loki sighed. “I have a terrible headache.”

“But how did you... Where were... What happened?!”

“Ask that half-witted lunatic you call your friend,” said Loki, willing his knees to keep him standing upright just a little longer. “If you want my explanation, it's going to have to wait. I mean, if you don't want to execute me right now. Did... Did the Tesseract make it?”

“Yes. It did.”

“Good,” Loki smiled. “Could you just call your guards already, so they can take me back to my comfortable prison cell? I would like to lay down for a moment. Getting the idiot to safety took its toll on me, I'm afraid...”

“If it weren't for the idiot, you would have died there, Ruby eyes,” Tony murmured. “You okay? I've never seen this shade of blue on you.”

“Thank you for reminding me, Stark.” Loki's skin tone went back to normal and only _now_ it was clear just how pale he really was. “I wouldn't want to scare the guards.”

“There aren't gonna be any guards. Right, Thor? You wouldn't send _your little brother_ , who's just saved the Tesseract _and_ one of your friends, to prison, would you?”

“Of course that he would. I am dangerous. I need to be kept in check.”

“Well, I'll gladly keep an eye on you and make sure you don't escape, Rub... I mean, Emerald eyes. But I can do that in your bedroom, too.”

“I'm afraid that it's up to the king to decide,” Loki smirked. “Right, brother?”

“Exactly, _brother_. It's up to me,” Thor smiled. “So please, show Stark the way to your bedroom. We will talk when you feel better.”

“Seriously? Are you not afraid that I am going to sneak out and destroy Asgard while you're not looking?”

Thor walked to Loki, still smiling. The sky outside was once again clear. Loki only stared as Thor reached out and touched the side of his brother's face.

“You cannot even imagine how glad I am that you are all right, Loki.”

“I...” Loki hesitated. “I might have caused a little diplomatic... conflict with Jotunheim.”

“Oh, no. Again?”

“What can I say? I _am_ your brother, after all.”

_Oh, thank fucking god_ , thought Tony. Hopefully, it's only gonna get better from now on...

 

When Loki woke up, there was an arm wrapped around his torso and a leg around _his_ legs. The god smiled.

“And who's the clingy octopus now?” he asked.

“Me,” said Tony. “Feeling better, honey?”

“Absolutely,” Loki nodded. “How long...”

“A few hours.”

“I... How did I get to bed?”

“Well, the moment we reached your bedroom, and I would like to remind you that I had to support you all the way here, you found the last remnants of your strength, disappeared _all_ your clothes, which I have absolutely nothing against, literally _jumped_ onto the bed and fell asleep about the moment your body met the mattress.”

“Oh. I am sorry,” Loki sighed. “Anthony, I was just so _tired_...”

“It's fine. I understand.” Loki felt a kiss on his temple and he smiled. “Don't think I've been lying next to you the whole time. I saw a healer to have the effect of the frost giant potion removed, I had a little chat with Thor...”

“You had _what_?!”

“Hush. It's fine,” Tony whispered and stroked Loki's side gently. “I gave him the report about Jotunheim, about the mission, everything. I even told him what _you_ told me about Odin, though he still wants to speak with _you_ about that. And we talked about your possible sentence. I was ready for another _don't take my stuff_ kind of a chat, and by the way, it's kind of crazy that it would be about _you_ again, but then I realized that would make me a Cap of this story and I decided to try and find a _compromise_ instead. And get who I want, meaning you, while not pissing off someone else, meaning Thor. By the way, he never _really_ wanted to send you to prison again, but-”

“Stark. Is there any _point_ of this babbling?”

“Yeah. I've compromised the hell outta your big bro,” Tony grinned. “And he agreed to release you into my custody, meaning I could take you with me back home if you... wanted.”

“He did?” Loki gaped. “Anthony-”

“Wait. There has been a little change of _that_ plan since then.”

“What change?”

“Well, about an hour ago, a diplomat from Jotunheim arrived, and it's none other than the king himself, and guess who's the only person he's willing to speak with?”

“No. No, no, no, no, no!” Loki shook his head, his bright green eyes wide with horror.

“Yeah. And if you don't wanna cause any _more_ diplomatic tension between the realms, well... You have a meeting tonight, over dinner. Sorry, but Thor insisted. Once the crisis is handled, you can still come with me to Earth, though.”

Loki groaned, closing his eyes. No, this had to be some sort of a nightmare. If he tried hard enough, he would wake up, surely he would...

The arm around his torso tightened and Loki felt Tony move so he could place a kiss on Loki's lips.

“And the good thing is,” said Tony, “that there is still time to take a bath together, if you want.”

All right. It probably wasn't a nightmare.

Loki opened his eyes again, resigned.

“And what about you? Will you leave me here alone?” he asked Tony.

“Of course not,” the man smiled and kissed Loki again. “I'll be here with you. I asked Heimdall. It seems Earth's doing just fine without me. Well, except for the fact that Cap broke into my lab to steal the tech I designed to cope with past traumas, guess who for, but... Yeah, whatever. Don't really care.”

“Good. I am glad that you don't.”

Tony laid his head on Loki's chest and the god's fingers immediately went to stroke his hair.

“Oh, shit...” Tony whispered. “You had to do this to me, did you? You had to tell me your story and make me _care_ and make me...”

“Make you what?”

“Nothing,” Tony shook his head. “It's nothing.”

“Anthony...” Loki frowned. “Why exactly did you stay and saved me?”

“Oh, so _now_ you admit I saved you. Shit, I wish we were in the base. You're gonna have to repeat it when we get there, I want to have this on a tape.”

“Anthony.”

“I just didn't want to let you die, okay? I _couldn't_ just let you die. I... You keep the nightmares and the anxiety away. Which is fucking incredible, considering you and your invasion was what fucking caused them. But you make me feel like _me_ again, and I...” He shook his head and buried his face in Loki's shoulder. “Never mind.”

“My dear, I know exactly what you mean,” Loki sighed. “You make me content. And _calm_. And... Yes, more like myself. More like my old self. The one that wasn't...”

“Completely crazy? Was there ever any Loki like that?”

Loki found out that the brown eyes were looking at him again, and he held their gaze.

“I think I love you, Anthony,” he said, quietly but clearly.

Gentle fingers brushed Loki's left cheek, making the god sigh.

“You need this, don't you?” Tony asked. “Physical affection. You adore all the touching and holding hands and kissing, right?”

“Why-”

“Just checking,” Tony grinned. “Because I'm really into it, too, when it comes to people I trust. Though I can't believe I chose to trust _you_ , from all the people. Well, at least the life with you will never be boring.” Tony sat up and patted Loki's thigh. “Come on,” he said. “Time for a bath. I'll even wash your hair again.”

“And freak out again?”

“Nah. You see, the last time I freaked out because I realized I might be falling for you. Right now, I... I am almost sure I... I love you. Too. I love you too, Loki. It's just kinda hard for me to say it after what I've been through during the past few months.”

Tony had never seen Loki grin as wide as he did when he sat up and wrapped his arms around Tony.

“Don't worry. I understand, dear,” Loki said. “Come on, then. I will show you my bathroom.”

“Yeah, could you perhaps... not call me dear, babe?”

“And will _you_ stop calling me Ruby _or_ Emerald eyes?”

“Uhm, nope?”

“Bluebird?”

“Yeah, because you're not blue now, so it's not funny anymore.”

“Lo or Lokes?”

“Never, Lo.”

“ _Babe_?”

“Yeah, I get it. I'd better get used to being your dear, right?”

“Well... Yes,” Loki nodded, pressed a kiss to Tony's cheek and got out of the bed. “Now, are you going to join me, _dear_ , or will you leave me alone and oh so bored?”

“Bored? You? No, _babe_ , we gotta keep you entertained. We don't want you to try taking over another innocent planet, right?”

Loki laughed, winked and turned around. He even made sure to wiggle his hips as he walked to the bathroom door.

Well, Tony was never going to say no to an invitation like _that_...

 


End file.
